IP Multimedia (IPMM) services provide a combination of voice, video, messaging, data, etc, within the same session. As the number of basic applications and the media which it is possible to combine increases, the number of services offered to the end users will grow, and the potential for enriching inter-personal communication experience will be improved. This leads to a new generation of personalised, rich multimedia communication services, including so-called “combinational IP Multimedia” services.
IMS is the technology defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) to provide IP Multimedia services over mobile communication networks. IMS provides features to enhance the end-user person-to-person communication experience through the integration and interaction of services. IMS allows enhanced person-to-person (client-to-client) as well as person-to-content (client-to-server) communications over an IP-based network. The IMS makes use of the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) to set up and control calls or sessions between user terminals (or user terminals and application servers). The Session Description Protocol (SDP) carried by SIP signalling is used to describe and negotiate the media components of the session. Whilst SIP was created as a user-to-user protocol, IMS allows operators and service providers to control user access to services and to charge users accordingly. Other protocols are used for media transmission and control, such as Real-time Transport Protocol and Real-time Transport Control Protocol (RTP/RTCP).
The proliferation of IP telephony systems has meant that Enterprises, such as call centres, more commonly use these systems along with connections to IMS. An example of a network including a connection to an enterprise is illustrated in FIG. 1. As can be seen the enterprise system 10 is provided with one or more enterprise endpoints 12 and an exchange 14. The enterprise endpoints 12 may be any suitable endpoint, for example, a telephone or a computer. The enterprise endpoints 12 connect to external networks 16 through an exchange 14. Other endpoints remote from the enterprise, remote endpoints 18, are also connected to the network 16, either directly or indirectly.
A remote endpoint is considered to be any endpoint which is not part of the enterprise system 10 and may be any type of endpoint. For example, a remote endpoint may be a mobile telephone as illustrated in FIG. 2. The remote endpoint 18 preferably includes at least, an input (aerial 20), an integral or external memory 22 and a processor 24. Other examples of remote endpoints are an IP telephone, a PSTN phone, a computer or any other endpoint capable of voice communication.
Communications between an enterprise endpoint and remote endpoints are directed through the exchange. This allows the Enterprise to run a private network.
In Enterprises it is common for a user to be routed through a number of menus in order to reach the enterprise endpoint belonging to the department or person they wish to contact. For example, a user contacting a call centre may be asked to press 1 to be transferred to Technical Support, 2 to be transferred to the Sales Department, 3 to be transferred to the Billing Department and so on. As the user calling into the Enterprise is only aware of the contact identity for the Enterprise and not the enterprise endpoint these menus must be passed through every time a user wishes to contact a particular department even if the reason for the contact is to follow up on a previous call. Additionally, as there is no record of any previous calls to the Enterprise any follow up calls may not be routed to the same person in the department. This can result in a user having to explain their situation multiple times meaning that there is no continuity of service.
Further, a call from inside an Enterprise to a user endpoint outside the Enterprise often results in the Enterprise number being displayed at the user endpoint. In such a situation the receiving user cannot call the originating user endpoint back without extensive instructions from the originating user as the number of the calling user endpoint is unknown.